Pianist Washington Garcia to perform Feb. 18 at NSU

NATCHITOCHES – Pianist Washington Garcia will perform at Northwestern State University Tuesday, Feb. 18 at 7:30 p.m. in Magale Recital Hall. The concert is part of the Louisiana Piano Series International. Tickets are $15. Students are admitted free.

Dr. Francis Yang and Dr. Christine Burczyk Allen are the organizers of the Louisiana Piano Series International. Information on the Louisiana Piano Series International is available at music.nsula.edu/lpsi.

The program will include works by Bach, Beethoven, Gerardo Guevara, Ferruccio Busoni, Ravel and Chopin.

García is associate professor of piano and assistant director of the School of Music at Texas State University-San Marcos where he is also the coordinator of the piano department. He is the founder and director of the Texas State International Piano Festival, and faculty member at the InterHarmony International Music Festival in Tuscany, Italy.

García holds a bachelor of music from the National Conservatory of Music in Ecuador, and master’s and doctoral degrees from the Peabody Institute of Johns Hopkins University, where he graduated at the age of 25 as the youngest Latin American to have received a doctoral degree in piano performance at the university.

He was awarded first prizes at the Guillermo Wright-Vallarino National Piano Competition held in Quito, the Elizabeth Davis Memorial Piano Competition and the 19th International Young Artist Piano Competition in Washington D.C., the 2004 Baltimore Music Club Piano Competition and the Harrison Winter Piano Competition.

Since his debut with the Ecuadorian National Symphony Orchestra at the age of 15, he has been an active recitalist, soloist, and lecturer in prestigious venues in Italy, Switzerland, Austria, France, Spain, Hungary, Canada, Israel, Chile, Mexico, Ecuador, Colombia, Japan, China, Indonesia, Singapore, Taiwan and the United States. His most recent performance at the National Recital Hall in Taiwan was received favorably by the critics and audience, leading to further engagements in Asia. In the United States, he has offered solo recitals and master classes in nearly 30 states.

García’s international debut took place in Santiago, Chile, where he performed for former President Patricio Aylwin at the Claudio Arrau International Piano Seminar. Subsequently, he was chosen from a large field of contestants from 33 countries by the Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts in Washington D.C. to receive one of two $25,000 grants awarded to pianists in its Fellowships of the Americas Program. Under the auspices of the program he was invited to play at the Kennedy Center Terrace Theater, the Organization of American States, the World Bank, the Inter-American Bank, the Corcoran Gallery of Art, the Department of State and the Mexican Cultural Center in Washington D.C.